Multiple transmit, multiple receive antenna (multiple input/multiple output or MIMO) systems offer potential for realizing high spectral efficiency of a wireless communications system. Information theoretic studies establish that in an independent flat-fading channel environment, the capacity of such an MIMO system increases linearly with the number of antennas. One such practical MIMO configuration is Bell Labs' Layered Space-Time (BLAST) system, which realizes high spectral efficiency for a narrow-band TDMA system. MIMO schemes are also being considered for standardization in WCDMA/HSDPA, and may be considered for CDMA2000 as well in the near future, both for the downlink of the code division multiple access (CDMA) systems.
Diagonal BLAST presumes that the MIMO channel is Rayleigh fading and that the channel parameters are known at the receiver but not at the transmitter, and is therefore an open-loop approach. V-BLAST, which is a simpler implementation of diagonal BLAST, advocates a simple demultiplexing of the single data streams instead of some specific encoding in space-time. The corresponding receiver architecture for V-BLAST is also simpler. In general, the various BLAST approaches transmit at the same rate on each transmit antenna or antenna pair (depending upon feedback and spatial channel realization), and use a minimum mean square error linear transformation at the receiver followed by interference cancellation based on coded symbols. Because of its open loop approach, V-BLAST uses a simple demultiplexing of the symbols of the encoded packet over multiple antennas.
One key aspect of MIMO system research is to design receivers that can reliably decode the transmitted signals in a frequency-selective channel. For a single input, single output (SISO) CDMA link, chip-level equalization is a promising means of improving the receiver performance in a frequency selective channel. Two major types of FIR linear equalization exist, namely the non-adaptive linear equalization that is based on either linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) or minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR), and the adaptive linear equalization. Another alternative is the recursive Kalman filtering approach, where it is shown to outperform the LMMSE approach at a slightly higher complexity. Applying MIMO configuration to the CDMA downlink presents additional challenge to the receiver design, as the receiver has to combat both the interchip interference (ICI) and the co-channel interference (CCI) in order to achieve reliable communication. It has been shown that both LMMSE algorithm and the Kalman filter algorithm can be extended to the MIMO system.
Apart from improving the performance of MIMO transmission through better receiver design, the study of such advanced receivers leads to a better understanding of the characterization of the MIMO link. Such characterization is very important from the overall system evaluation perspective. Specifically, the air interface in a cellular system consists of links between the base stations (BS) and the terminals, also known as the mobile stations (MS). The performance of the air interface is quantified by simulating these links individually. It is practically impossible to embed a bit-true simulation of each of these links into a system level simulation. Fortunately, only a limited amount of information is required by the upper layers from the physical layer, such as frame and packet errors, signaling errors etc. Thus, an alternative to exhaustive link simulation is widely used, wherein these parameters are modeled in a random manner while still confirming to their statistical behavior as predicted by individual link simulations. This process of abstraction of the link performance is known as link-to-system mapping. One of the functions of this mapping is to use some measure of the link quality, like signal to noise ration (SNR), to estimate the frame error rate (FER) that can be expected.
Such link-to-system mapping procedures have been studied and used in the past, predominantly for SISO links. To facilitate an explanation of link-to-system mapping for MIMO schemes, it is stipulated that from the point of view of packet transmission with forward error correction coding, MIMO transmission can be classified into two broad categories: jointly encoded (henceforth denoted as JE) and separately encoded (SE). In the JE mode of transmission, as the name suggests, a single encoded packet is transmitted over multiple streams after de-multiplexing, whereas in SE, each stream consists of a separately encoded packet. Coded-VBLAST and its variants, as well as trellis coded space-time modulation schemes, fall under the first category, while Per Antenna Rate Control (PARC) and its variants belong to the second category. The approach to the SNR vs. FER mapping issue depends upon the type of transmission scheme being utilized. Even under quasi-static channel conditions, the SE schemes are such that each stream, after equalization, sees a single SNR associated with itself, and hence, the mapping to FER is a two-dimensional problem, just as in the SISO case.
The problem has been resolved for SISO systems in 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), “1x EV-DV Evaluation Methodology,” 2001. Solutions for a MIMO system with separate encoding have also been proposed in at least three different papers: “Approaching eigenmode BLAST channel capacity using VBLAST with rate and power feedback,” in Proceedings of IEEE Vehicular Technology Fall Conference, pp. 915-919, October 2001 by S. T. Chung, A. Lozano, and H. Huang; “Contribution to 3GPP: R1-010879: Increasing MIMO Throughput with Per-Antenna Rate Control,” 2001, by Lucent; and “Contribution to 3GPP: R1-040290: Double Space Time Transmit Diversity with Sub-Group Rate Control (DSTTD-SGRC) for 2 or More Receive Antennas,” 2004, by Mitsubishi.
These solutions are not readily adaptable for use in a JE MIMO system because in JE schemes, various portions of a packet see different SNRs, and hence the mapping is potentially a multi-dimensional problem. The inventors are unaware of any proposal in the prior art for a CQI in a joint space-time encoded (JE) MIMO scheme in a frequency-selective channel. What is needed in the art is a channel quality indicator (CQI) that accurately characterizes the wireless link in a MIMO system that uses joint encoding. Such a CQI is essential for both link adaptation and link to system mapping in system level evaluations. A receiver that uses such a CQI would aid in realizing the theoretic capacity increases offered by JE MIMO communication systems.